In reality, the magic stones inside monsters on the first four floors were almost all fragments.
But to Emiya, even the smallest fragment was money.
The main issue was simple.
He had no money in this world.
So Emiya didn't mind extracting every single magic stone fragment from the Kobolds.
Once the magic stones were removed, the Kobolds' bodies underwent drastic changes.
First, their color rapidly faded.
Then their heads collapsed inward.
Finally, their entire bodies turned into dust, disappearing without leaving a trace.
Anyone familiar with Danmachi knew that magic stones were the core of monsters.
They moved because of them.
Once the magic stone was gone, the monster would naturally return to dust.
Unfortunately, Emiya wasn't very lucky.
After he finished collecting the magic stones, every Kobold vanished cleanly, leaving nothing behind.
Not even a single drop item.
It seemed that monster drops weren't that easy to come by.
Tiona, watching from the side, saw Emiya use his invisible power to extract the magic stones without touching the monsters' bloodied corpses.
She couldn't help but sigh.
"Psychic power really is an amazing ability."
Some monsters smelled terrible.
After killing them, blood would inevitably splatter everywhere. And you'd still have to cut open the corpse to dig out the magic stone.
For someone who liked staying clean, that was a nightmare.
If she had an ability like this, she could kill monsters from afar and completely avoid that mess.
The thought made Tiona even more envious.
Unfortunately, skills weren't like magic.
Even if someone was willing to teach you, it didn't mean you could learn them.
Many skills were simply unlearnable.
Tiona quickly put the feeling aside and waved her hand.
"Alright. Let's keep going."
Emiya nodded and continued searching for Kobolds deeper in the dungeon.
For a thousand years, the dungeon had welcomed countless adventurers.
Yet the monsters never seemed to run out.
The reason was simple.
The dungeon wasn't a dead place.
It was alive.
At fixed intervals, it would produce new monsters.
The dungeon itself was the mother of monsters. As long as it existed, monsters would continue to emerge endlessly.
At present, adventurers didn't even know how many floors the dungeon had.
Destroying it was nothing more than a fantasy.
The number of floors remained one of the world's greatest mysteries.
After his first battle, when Emiya encountered Kobolds for the second time, he was still nervous.
But far less than before.
At the very least, he could face them calmly.
Before the Kobolds even got close, Emiya released his psychic bullets.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The bullets pierced through their eyes.
Blood splattered.
Then the bullets drilled straight through their skulls, killing them instantly.
He was clearly much more proficient than during his first fight.
The Kobolds couldn't even get within ten meters of him before being completely wiped out.
Afterward, Emiya extracted the magic stone fragments.
The corpses turned into dust.
The entire battle was faster.
Cleaner.
More efficient.
Tiona watched quietly from the side.
The third battle came quickly.
This time, Emiya was even calmer.
He used the least amount of power to deal the greatest damage, repeating the process again and again.
After spending an hour on the first floor, Emiya, guided by Tiona, entered the second floor.
The monsters there were slightly stronger.
But still well within his control.
The destructive power of his psychic abilities far exceeded Emiya's own expectations.
His psychic hands had a range of over a hundred meters.
His psychic bullets exceeded five hundred meters.
What was even more outrageous-
Even after being fired, the bullets remained under his control.
They could turn corners.
Move in zigzags.
Loop through the air.
Perform all kinds of complex maneuvers.
That was why Emiya could consistently pierce monsters through the eyes and skull.
This terrifying efficiency allowed him to rampage through the early floors.
No monster could get within ten meters of him.
As he grew more accustomed to combat, that distance gradually increased.
Two hours later, Emiya reached the fourth floor.
Monsters still appeared in groups, mostly Goblins.
But now, they couldn't even approach within thirty meters.
Let alone ten.
Emiya easily slaughtered them from beyond thirty meters.
More importantly, his psychic attacks were invisible.
The monsters couldn't defend against them at all.
That was one of the main reasons for his overwhelming success.
Along the way, Emiya encountered more than one adventurer.
Many of them witnessed his combat style firsthand.
They couldn't see his attacks.
All they saw was that whenever Emiya's gaze fell on a monster, it died.
And since Tiona was with him, it was obvious he belonged to Loki Familia.
As a result, a strange rumor quietly began spreading across the upper floors.
Soon after, Emiya entered the fifth floor.
Unlike the first four floors, the monsters here were significantly stronger.
Both in number.
And in quality.
This was no longer a place a normal rookie could handle.
Even a Level Two adventurer would be in danger alone.
But to Emiya, it still wasn't a problem.
He could kill the monsters before they ever reached him.
That said, compared to earlier fights, his psychic power consumption had increased noticeably.
"Stop."
After one battle ended, Tiona-who had been acting as his bodyguard-finally stepped in.
"You can't keep going like this, newbie-kun."
"What's wrong?" Emiya asked.
Tiona raised her right hand and began counting on her fingers.
"Listen carefully. An adventurer's status is made up of five basic abilities-strength, endurance, dexterity, agility, and magic. On top of that, there are magic, skills, and your vessel's rank. Your level."
"For those of us with divine grace, we gain experience through fighting monsters and other actions. That experience reshapes our status and strengthens us."
Emiya nodded.
"I know that."
Tiona shook her head.
"No. You don't understand at all."
"Other than magic, strength, agility, endurance, and dexterity all need to be tempered through direct combat. That's how you grow quickly."
"But in all your fights just now, you only used one thing. Your psychic ability."
"Yes, you can kill monsters quickly and collect magic stones. But it barely helps your growth."
"Your physical stats will rise extremely slowly."
"At this rate, rookies who started at the same time as you will already be Level Two or even Level Three while you're still stuck at Level One."
Emiya fell silent, considering her words.
Tiona crossed her arms.
"From now on, I'll teach you how to fight properly."
"I appreciate it," Emiya said, "but that won't be necessary."
"...Huh?"
"I only came to the dungeon today to experience it," Emiya replied calmly. "I don't have a strong desire to grow through combat. And I have another way to become stronger."
"I can increase my strength without fighting monsters."
"...Hah?"
Tiona's expression cracked.
"How is there even something that convenient?"
Emiya smiled.
"You don't need to worry about that. If I get the chance later, I can help you grow stronger too. Level Six. Even Level Seven."
He said it with complete confidence.
With access to countless worlds, Emiya had many paths to power.
And the most suitable one for him-
Was the world of Toriko.
Unfortunately, his travels were random.
Reaching that world depended entirely on luck.
Tiona looked at his expression and knew arguing was pointless.
She sighed.
"You really have an overactive imagination. Do you even know what Level Seven means? There's only one in all of Orario."
Emiya knew that perfectly well.
Only one Level Seven existed.
Ottar.
The captain of Freya Familia.
Orario's Ultimate Weapon.
"Relax," Emiya said casually. "One Ottar isn't a big deal."
This time, Tiona was completely speechless.
"...Fine. Whatever makes you happy."
As for Emiya's promise to help her reach Level Six or Seven-
She treated it as a joke.
Her rational mind told her believing that would be stupid.
They continued fighting.
When Emiya had used up roughly two-thirds of his psychic power, he reached the eighth floor.
For safety's sake, he decided to stop.
By the time he returned to the surface plaza, it was around three in the afternoon.
After that, Emiya headed to the Guild and handed over the magic stone fragments and small stones he had collected.
"Please exchange these for Valis," he said, placing two pouches on the counter.
"Mr. Emiya," Eina said politely. "Please wait a moment."
But when she poured out the contents-
Her expression froze.
"...That's a lot."
Emiya blinked.
"Is it?"
~~~~~
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